Debarment of Vendors Involved in Corruption Investigations from Future Government Contracts

Parliamentary Question by Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis:

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) whether individuals and contractors who are currently involved in corruption investigations or convicted on corruption charges involving Government officials will (i) be debarred from future Government contracts and (ii) have existing Government contracts modified or cancelled; and (b) what is the framework for making such determinations.

Parliamentary Reply by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Mr Lawrence Wong:

Individuals convicted of corruption involving a public officer, in connection with a Government contract, will be debarred from being awarded new Government procurement contracts for a period of time.  The debarment may also be extended to companies or businesses on which the convicted individuals serve as directors, partners or sole proprietors. The framework for debarment from Government contracts is published and available on the GeBIZ website.

Individuals under investigation are generally not debarred if the individual has not been convicted yet, as the determination of whether an offence has been committed would usually not be complete. Agencies can however take this into consideration, where relevant, as part of their evaluation of competing bids. For example, if the agency assesses that the contractor does not have the necessary controls in place to ensure that it can perform the contract while under investigation or facing criminal proceedings, this would be a relevant factor in scoring.

During the debarment period, for contracts which have yet to be awarded, Government agencies will not consider debarred persons for the award.

For existing contracts, where the contractor, any person employed by the contractor or any person acting on behalf of the contractor has committed corruption, Government agencies can terminate the contract as provided for under the Government’s standard conditions of our procurement contracts.  This is considered on a case-by-case basis to avoid adversely affecting delivery of goods or services where appropriate.